glass over the flame
by minachandler
Summary: It's Tommy's birthday, and Laurel has something she wants to tell him. Smut.


The sound of Oliver and Mckenna leaving makes Tommy look up briefly from where he's standing near the dying candles in the dining room as he watches Laurel waving them away. She shuts the door behind them, making her way over to Tommy, just as he blows out the candle so the flickering flames extinguish.

"Hey," she says softly. "You okay? You seem… somewhere else."

"I've got a lot on my mind," Tommy says shortly. Laurel looks hurt, though, and seconds later he adds, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, I just -"

"No, I get it," Laurel says to his surprise, shaking her head.

"You do?"

She lets out a small laugh. "You are looking at the poster girl for daddy issues, you know."

He can't help but laugh too. "True."

"It'll be okay," Laurel assures him, taking his hand, and he closes his eyes, still not used to the feeling of her hand in his. He kisses her, then, and it starts off chaste, soft, before gradually becoming more insistent as his tongue darts out to lick her lower lip.

"He didn't just come to say happy birthday," Tommy says when they come up for air.

"I figured."

"He's got some - award ceremony coming up. He wanted me to go."

"And you said no." It's not a question.

"Of course I said no. Knowing him… there's bound to be some kind of agenda."

"It's your choice, at the end of the day," Laurel says. "You've got to do what you think is right. But I would support you no matter what you chose to do. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Tommy replies, and he smiles this time before kissing her. "Thank you."

"You never have to thank me," Laurel tells him, and in that moment he wants to tell her he loves her so badly that he almost does.

"Tell me something," he murmurs against her mouth.

"Mm?"

"How do you take this thing off?"

And there's something beautiful about the warm hum of laughter he can taste on her lips as she pulls away from him, reaching behind her with this smile on her beautiful face that Tommy can't for the life of him get over even if he wanted to. She unzips her pantsuit, pulling it slowly off her shoulders and revealing a black lacy bra underneath. Tommy takes a step forward, pulls the garment off the rest of the way so it falls off her hips to the floor.

She starts unbuttoning his shirt, and Tommy helps, undoing the bottom buttons while Laurel works on the top ones. When they're all undone Laurel tugs off his shirt from each arm, tossing it aside, and she reaches up to kiss him once more, breasts straining against her bra and pressing right up against his bare torso. He can feel the press of the table against his spine from where she's pushed him up against it, still kissing him. Her hand strays down, though, and Tommy groans when she reaches inside his pants. Her hand closes around him through his boxers, and then she slips her hand inside his underwear and Tommy can't stop himself groaning i0nto her mouth.

"God, Laurel…"

He buries his face into her neck, planting kisses down to her collarbone. Her grip on him tightens just a little, her thumb caressing the slightly wet tip of his erection, and Tommy knows from then that he's not going to last long. He surrenders to her touch, letting her run her palm up and down his hardened length.

"Can I tell you something?" Laurel says, and her tone is tortuously nonchalant, as if she's not making love to him with her hand.

"Y-yeah?" Tommy just about manages to say, and it's hard, when Laurel's got him pinned against the table, mere clothing separating her body from his, for him to think straight.

But then her expression changes and when she kisses him her hold loosens a little on him, the circular motions she's doing reducing to gentler strokes - the way she knows he likes it.

"I love you," she tells him, just as she starts to increase the pressure, and Tommy gasps - though whether in surprise or pleasure (or maybe both) he isn't quite sure.

He's close now, and he fights to keep his eyes open so he can meet hers as he comes, as he thrusts into her hand and comes messily into his pants, heart racing, pulse thumping.

"I…" Tommy begins to say, but he's not quite sure what _to_ say.

He told her he loved her a year ago to this day, on his birthday, and she had frozen when he had, frozen then hurriedly pulled on her clothes and left.

Now, as she withdraws her hand from his pants, there's something about the way that she looks at him that is - different, somehow.

"Really?" he says at last.

"I mean it," she says softly. "I love you, Tommy Merlyn."

"I love you too, Laurel Lance," Tommy replies with a smile. "I love you too."

He proceeds to show her just how much, undoing the clasp of her bra and letting it fall off, tongue darting out to her left nipple while his fingers play with her right, and they both become erect at his touch, to his delight. Laurel groans, and it's such a beautiful sound that Tommy can't help but moan contentedly too as he presses her up against the table.

He hooks his fingers around the waistband of her panties and looks up at her, asking wordlessly for permission. She nods, and he pulls her underwear down, untangling it from each of her ankles. With one hand he reaches up and gently strokes her entrance, eliciting a keening sound from Laurel's lips. He does it again, with the backs of his fingers this time, and in what seems like no time at all they're wet with her essence. He licks his fingers while looking up at her, and she moans again, needingly, before grabbing his hand and placing it back between her legs.

He moves his hand away and she moans in protest, but then he lowers himself so he's kneeling in front of her and can smell the wet heat of her arousal. He nudges his nose into her entrance and breathes in deeply, unable to get enough of her heady, intoxicating scent. He lets his tongue dart out, but goes slowly, carefully, knowing how she likes it. His hand is on her thigh as his tongue finds her clitoris, encircling it, then humming against it in the way he knows she loves.

She rocks her hips against his mouth, arching into him, groaning softly, and she's close now, that much Tommy can sense, from the way her thighs tense against his jaw and her grip in his hair tightens. He laps up her essence, licking every last drop of it, and when she comes he bears the way she thrusts into his mouth with a final cry that reverberates around the room.

Tommy gets slowly to his feet, backing her against the nearest wall. Laurel kisses him, messily and more than a little clumsily, but if anything that just turns him on even more. Seeing her so _\- undone_ \- and at his hand, too - there's something undeniably satisfying about that that he can't quite explain.

He realises he's hard for her again, now, and that she knows it, too, from the way she runs the back of her hand over his groin. With one pull she tugs down his remaining garments, letting him push her against the wall. When he's inside her it's hard to tell where she starts and he finishes. He knows he's not going to last long, but she murmurs to him, telling him it's okay, it doesn't matter, _she loves him_ , and somehow that's all it takes for him to spill inside her, uttering her name over and over like a prayer.

"God, I love you, Laurel," he says thickly, just before her mouth covers his in a messy, open-mouthed kiss that leaves him breathless.

Later, they're in bed, Laurel curling behind Tommy, arms around his waist from behind, watching the stars together in silence, when at last he can't help but voice what's been on his mind.

"Can I ask you something?" he says, turning to face her.

"Yeah."

"I - when I told you I loved you last year… why did you leave?"

Laurel sighs, and Tommy can feel her chest heave softly against his and the gentle warm kiss of her breath on his neck.

"Honestly?" she says. Tommy nods. "I… was scared, more than anything."

"I didn't think anything about us ever scared you," Tommy murmurs back.

"It didn't. Not until you said those words and it began to dawn on me, really hit me, that what we had - you were right. It wasn't just fun. It was different. And I just - couldn't accept that."

"Because of Ollie?"

"After what he did to me… I didn't ever want to let anyone in again," Laurel admits. "But then I did. With you. Against every sensibility I had."

"I get it," he said softly. "And I'm sorry if I - sprang that on you the way I did when we weren't even together."

"We kind of were, though. Even back then."

"I was with Josie."

"She was on vacation," Laurel says good-naturedly.

"That's not how you saw it at the time."

"But I know that's not who you are anymore," Laurel says earnestly. "You've changed. And I love the person you've become. The man you've become."

"I love you too," Tommy whispers back, and the smile they share sparkles with shared pleasure and the promise of what's to come for both of them.


End file.
